Real-time statistics from Johns Hopkins University in the United States show that as of 14:00 on March 31, Beijing time, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia in the world has risen to 780,000, reaching 786,291, and a total of 37,820 deaths.
While this public health emergency is raging, there are opinions that it will be the last straw to overwhelm globalization. For example, the British "The Economist" magazine clearly stated in the form of pictures on the cover of its March 21 issue that "globalization as we know it is coming to an end." I have to say that the epidemic is indeed likely to provide new "reasons" for those who slander globalization.
Who is making masks?
In the epidemic, what are the medical supplies that are closely related to everyone's daily life and are crucial? Masks.
As the world's largest producer and exporter of masks, China's annual output of masks accounts for about 50% of global output; Minister of Industry and Information Technology Miao Wei has publicly stated that our country's maximum production capacity of masks is more than 20 million per day.
Among the world's top ten mask manufacturers, except for four that belong to China, the rest are:
-3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company), headquartered in the United States;
-Honeywell International (Honeywell International), headquartered in the United States;
-UVEX (UVEX), headquartered in Germany;
-Xinghe Trading Co., Ltd., a Japanese company;
-Japan Hakumoto Co., Ltd., a Japanese company;
-Dettol (Dettol), headquartered in the UK.
What are the raw materials for the production of masks? Medical surgical masks are generally made of three layers of non-woven fabrics, namely spunbonded non-woven fabrics, melt-blown non-woven fabrics, and spun-bonded non-woven fabrics; among them, melt-blown non-woven fabrics are the core filter layer of the mask.
There are currently 54 companies producing meltblown non-woven fabrics in China (considering that there are still companies switching production, this data may still be changing); the remaining 20 are mainly located in the United States, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Turkey, Poland, Czech Republic, etc.
China is the world's largest non-woven fabric producer, but the output of melt-blown non-woven fabrics is relatively low. According to statistics from China Industrial Textile Industry Association, the production process of China's nonwoven fabric industry is mainly spunbonded; in 2018, the output of spunbonded nonwovens was 2,971,200 tons, accounting for 50% of the total nonwoven production. Mainly used in sanitary materials and other fields; meltblown technology accounts for only 0.9%. Of course, spunbond non-woven fabrics are also indispensable for medical surgical masks.
Countries is self-protecting for masks
In the context of the aforementioned mask production layout + the COVID-19 epidemic, there have been instances of snatching masks in Europe.
On March 8, German customs authorities detained a truck belonging to a Swiss company at the border with 240,000 protective masks. On March 13, Germany intercepted another 830,000 surgical masks purchased by Italy from China; after all efforts, Germany has released these masks.
Not only that, in order to ensure the “freedom of masks” in the country, different countries have issued relevant laws and regulations at different times.
On January 31, the General Administration of Foreign Trade (DGFT) of India announced that during the global COVID-19 pandemic, India will ban the export of all personal protective equipment such as masks.
On February 4, Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce Zhu Lin issued a notice to officially implement export controls on “sanitary masks” such as medical masks, industrial masks, and dust masks, and prohibit the export of more than 500 masks at a time.
On March 4, the German Interior Ministry stated that in order to ensure that medical workers have sufficient capacity to deal with the new crown pneumonia epidemic, it has banned the export of medical protective equipment such as masks and gloves.
On the same day, France and Russia also issued similar bans.
The French government announced the requisition of masks across the country, resulting in the cancellation of a multi-million mask order in the UK. The Russian government issued a statement that Russia banned the export of several medical products including masks and respirators.
On March 6, the Ministry of Health and Welfare of South Korea stated that South Korea will promulgate and implement the newly revised "Implementation Regulations of the Infectious Disease Prevention and Management Act" today. According to the new law, the Korean epidemic prevention department will have the power to prohibit the export of medical supplies such as sanitary masks.
On March 12, the United States Trade Representative announced that it would no longer impose tariffs on certain pharmaceutical products imported from China (including masks, stethoscopes, etc.) to avoid the impact of the epidemic on the US medical system.
At the same time, Chinese industries that have been hit hard by the epidemic are gradually recovering. At present, there are 47,000 mask companies in China, and "conservative estimates have reached 200 million masks" that can be produced every day.
"The pharmacy near my home still lacks masks, but online purchases are much easier, at least than in February. But I still hope that I can buy masks freely from pharmacies, and I feel more at ease." Ms. Zhai, who lives in Fengtai District, Beijing Tell a reporter from "Economic" magazine and Economic Net.
Mr. Guo, who lives in Chaoyang District, Beijing, also told reporters, “There is no shortage of masks now. They can be bought in supermarkets near my community, and community workers will issue them from time to time.” China has provided emergency assistance to more than 80 countries and international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the African Union, including medical supplies such as masks and testing reagents; China is also willing to facilitate the procurement of medical supplies for other countries and regions through commercial channels.
Despite this, many countries are still worried about the scarcity of medical supplies, including masks; at this moment, the “shortage of masks” is no longer a problem in China. In more detail, despite the fact that many factories were unable to resume work in the early stage of the epidemic, China also faced a huge gap in masks, but as the epidemic was gradually controlled and people began to return to factories, the mask problem was quickly resolved in China. Public data shows that China's mask production capacity has increased from more than 20 million per day to 116 million in only 9 days.
For people who are bad about globalization, they are likely to put forward the following ideas: in an emergency, globalization is not a help but an obstacle; usually, if a country needs a large number of masks, it can rely on imports; in special times, people are busy Self-help, relying on the global industrial chain has become unrealistic. In the latter scenario, it is obvious that whoever owns a more complete industrial chain will have the advantage and will be more capable of fighting emergencies.
Therefore, after COVID-19 epidemic, will people change their views on globalization? In other words, is the reversibility of globalization practical?
Regionalization and security will be more valued. In the future, globalization will show different characteristics from the past in changes, but it will not be interrupted. However, this process also has problems that need attention.
"The global spread of the epidemic has hit the global supply chain system to a large extent. Even if they resume work, many companies have to face problems such as insufficient supply of raw materials and reduced orders, resulting in their inability to operate normally. At this time, there will be more Companies advocate the establishment of a controllable and stable supply chain system, especially those that tend to be localized. It is worth noting that the aforementioned practices can easily lead to the possibility of leaving the global supply chain system in the name of self-reliance. It can even be said that the epidemic is raging Under the background of the global economy, it is inevitable for enterprises to adopt similar measures to deal with the impact." In an interview with reporters from Economic Magazine and Economic Net, Sang Baichuan, Dean of the Institute of International Economics at the University of International Business and Economics, said.
He also said that the epidemic will eventually be brought under control, and for many countries, including China, globalization is the best choice for maintaining development. "China needs to establish an open vision of globalization. Only in the process of globalization can we make further progress."
Of course, globalization does not only focus on the economic field. Global governance and rule-making are also the content of globalization. This is another story.
